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000039_news@columbia.edu_Sun Jul 30 15:07:39 1995.msg
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1995-12-25
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From: fdc@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Frank da Cruz)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.kermit.misc,comp.sys.mac.comm
Subject: Re: MacKermit throughput
Date: 30 Jul 1995 15:07:39 GMT
Organization: Columbia University
Lines: 99
Message-Id: <3vg77r$qef@apakabar.cc.columbia.edu>
References: <3vbvee$q7g@garlic.com>
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Keywords: MacKermit throughput tuning
Xref: news.columbia.edu comp.protocols.kermit.misc:3311 comp.sys.mac.comm:116557
Apparently-To: kermit.misc@watsun.cc.columbia.edu
In article <3vbvee$q7g@garlic.com>, Chris Jewell <chrisj@puffin.com> wrote:
: Someone has recommended that my employer and a customer use MacKermit
: to transfer files between a pair of distant Macs via modem. I recall
: that early implementations of Kermit suffered from performance
: problems due to packet-size restrictions and the like. From time to
: time, I have seen Frank da Cruz assert (without contradiction except
: perhaps from Chuck Forsberg <grin>) that complaints about Kermit
: performance result from using commercial commware that contains old,
: out-of-date implementations of the protocol, or from failure to adjust
: the setup to take advantage of 8-bit channels, large packets, etc.,
: and that anyone using the current production releases of the Columbia
: U. programs C-Kermit and MS-KERMIT should be able to obtain something
: close to the bandwidth limit on Kermit transfers, provided they pay
: attention to tuning.
:
: Can anyone tell me whether the currently available MacKermit has an
: up-to-date protocol engine in it...
:
Yes, it does.
: ... and thus is tunable to near-optimum
: throughput, or whether it contains one of those old, inescapably slow
: implementations?
:
No, it doesn't.
: I'm perfectly happy to drum up a couple of
: registration payments for ZTerm or whatever and use Zmodem protocol if
: MacKermit is slow, but if MacKermit performs well I'm also perfectly
: happy to recommend that we use it: all I need is a little information.
:
: Email and I'll summarize to save bandwidth.
:
No need for that, this is the definitive answer.
While Mac Kermit might not be among our premiere implementations, it is
at least up to date with respect to the protocol engine. It lags behind
in the Mac-specific aspects, due to a chronic shortage of capable
volunteer Macintosh programmers and the ever-changing nature of the
Macintosh platform and OS themselves. Thus, if you can get it to work
at all on your Mac (it does on most), and if you can make it transfer
files at all (the latest "non-releases" do), then you should be able to
tune it optimally.
Here is the current canned blurb describing Mac Kermit:
CURRENT STATE OF MACINTOSH KERMIT
Mac Kermit 0.991(190) dated 16 August 1994, or later, fixes the problem with
downloading under newer System releases (7.1.x). Now files can be downloaded
on newer systems such as Centris 660 AV with OS 7.1, Power Mac 7100/66 with OS
7.1.2, etc, without bombs or other nasty effects. It should also fix certain
binary/text-mode confusion that seemed to result in corrupted files when
downloading in binary mode.
As of June 3, 1995, there is also a version modified to use the Communications
Toolbox if available, which hopefully should eliminate a lot of the problems
people have been reporting concerning "Problem closing RAM serial driver",
etc, as well as problems finding and using some of the more unusual types of
communication ports on newer Mac models.
The last formal release of Mac Kermit was 0.9(40) in 1988. Unfortunately, it
does not work very well on newer Macintoshes or Systems. However, newer
versions are too big for 512K Macs or below, so you'll have to run 0.9(40) on
these old models.
A great deal of work has been done on the program since 1988, but the result
(so far) is still not of release quality, though it is quite suitable for most
purposes.
The current pre-pre-release of Mac Kermit (still far from a final release) is
0.991(190), based on C-Kermit 5A(190). It is available via anonymous FTP
from kermit.columbia.edu [128.59.39.2], directory kermit/f.
A comprehensive user manual will be published when the final 1.0 release is
complete. Sorry, I can't give any reasonable estimate about when that will
be. Mac Kermit files: ftp from kermit.columbia.edu in text mode from the
kermit/f directory:
ckm190.hqx -- current prerelease of Mac Kermit in BinHex 4.0 format
ckmker.doc -- user documentation for 0.9(40), the previous release (1988)
ckmker.ps -- PostScript version of user documentation for 0.9(40)
ckmker.bwr -- Notes about the current prerelease, FAQ's, etc
ckmker.fon -- Notes about the new Mac Kermit terminal emulation font
and in the kermit/charsets directory:
maclatin.* -- The new Mac Kermit font itself
The June 3 Communications Toolbox Test version is in:
kermit/mac/mackermit.hqx. UnBinHex it and then you have a self-extracting
archive (SEA), which you can click on to unpack into the Kermit app.
Read the ckmker.bwr ("beware") file for further details.
(End of ckmaaa.hlp)